CHAPTER ONE- The dragon hunter
It was beautiful, golden green scales reflecting the light of the smoky sun, its wings sweeping through the clouds, faster than wind. Juliet breathed in the smoky air, her dark brown eyes glazed over the beast in the sky, her fingers twitched with a desperate hunger that overpowered her.
Juliet had hunted many dragons before; in the short few months following the events of Helgen, she had gained a reputation as a dragon hunter, as a Dragonborn.
Before she took up the hunting of dragons, she hunted regular animals, sold them to the inns and small shops in villages; her customers kept her poaching secret, as the price of her venison was much cheaper in comparison to farmers.
She loved the chase in hunting, the thrill of blood splashing on her dagger, the sound of arrows penetrating the skin of her victim. However, her first dragon kill was exhilarating, unlike anything she had ever hunted, the beasts were great and heavy, their scales were worth a fortune and when they lay on the ground at her feet, she felt an amazing array of emotions swarm her.
She heard the rumbling, the loud call of the dragon, she felt it as the rocks bounced on the ground and the woodland creatures began running in all opposite directions as the winged creature roared, smoke emitting from its nostrils and mixing with the thick air.
Juliet reached for her bow, fingers twitching with anticipation, she could feel the rush already, the call of its ghost was strong, she felt forced to withdraw an arrow to fire.
She distantly heard Irileth call orders. The soldiers spread across the field, Juliet could feel their fear emitting from the like an aura, they had their bows equipped; arrows were firing into the air, causing the dragon to growl.
Fire rained from the sky, the dragon seemed to be laughing at them, and Juliet could hear its comments at the crowd, "I forget what sport you mortals can make!"
The words were not in the common tongue, something guttural and ancient, but she understood it.
It was not unique to her, she had heard dragons speech before, read their scribing, something that others could not boast, but it almost felt like the norm to her, like a language she had always known.
The dance continued as it circled the watchtower, crawling the skies and raining fire with a shout that erupted from its lungs volcanically; its eyes hungered on the humans below.
"Come down, dragon..." Juliet whispered, "Let's finish this!"
It turned it's majestic coppered head towards her, multi colour eyes flecked with gold, green and red and an iris like a sharp disk striping down the centre, it curiously lowered from the sky, flapping its large leathery wings as arrow was released after arrow.
"Dovahkiin" It laughed, "You too have head the call, the end is coming!"
Juliet ignored its comments, smiling as it hit the ground, she ran towards it, shooting arrows as she approached.
The dragon's skull was strong, stronger than most armour, Juliet learned this quickly when fighting her first dragon, she had constructed a bow, and it was long and heavy, made from metals found in Hammerfell, fashioned in such a way to allow for a tight, long draw. The arrows fashioned were sharp and strong, designed to penetrate the thick scales easily.
It tumbled before she reached it, arrows sticking between its armour and thick, nearly black blood drizzling onto the ground.
It cried, and Juliet was taken back, the long moan of the beast began as she felt its power lifting from its body, scales lifted and withered like leaves in a fire, drifting into the sky, carried by smoke.
Then pain was more intense than what she was used to, it ruptured into her skull, burning her eyes and stinging every nerve, the light was blinding and beautiful, more painful than anything she had ever experienced.
Dovahkiin... the rough voice whispered between her ears, it was mournful yet she could feel the tones and their angry nature, the voice was rough and ancient.
"She's the Dragonborn!" She heard the guards announce, she had heard people say similar things.
Juliet looked at the pile of bones at her feet, they were smoking from the fire of the dragon's demise, its skeleton in perfect order, not a bone had dropped. The Guards drew closer cautiously, their swords still drawn and their brows heavy with a nervous sweat, but they agreed it was dead.
Irileth walked over in a confident stride, taking her hide boot and kicking the right wing of the skeleton, "Well it's definitely dead now, but where did it come from..."
"I don't know" Juliet replied, "But this dragon is unlike any I have ever fought."
"So it is true then, you're the Dragonborn?" Another guard asked, "I've heard of you..."
"So it's true then... the dragons are back then? I never believed it until today, now everything seems all too real" The guards were standing closer together, adjusting their helmets and refusing to withdraw their weapons back into their hilts, they all looked towards Juliet, fiery adrenaline lighting their eyes slowly dimming.
"Well, none of that matters" Irileth stated, turning to face her men, "what does matter is that right here is that here is a dead dragon and that means that we can kill it." She smugly looked over at Juliet, her red eyes flickering with confidence, "I don't need no fancy 'Dragonborn' to tell me more than that"
"Believe what you want to." Juliet smiled, her mind still aching from the dragon's touch, "I'm heading back to Dragonsreach, and the Jarl will be expecting news of the attack."
She walked over the plains of Whiterun, leaving the men to argue and speak in awe of the events they had witnessed; she tried to ignore their comments, her mind focusing on the dragon she had just killed.
Juliet approached the gates of Whiterun, her dusty leather boots kicking the dirt in her exhaustion, the khajiit traders watching her pass without a word passing their teeth, their cat eyes on her or the column of smoke at the watchtower.
She soon then, heard the call, the clouds parted and the blue sky behind them sang, a harmonic choir of ancient Nordic voices shouted 'Dovahkiin'.
"And so it begins, Dovahkiin..." A dark voice mentioned, whispering between her lobes.
Juliet trudged up the steps of Dragonsreach in haste, her mind lost in the fog of the recent events, her adrenaline pumping from her recent kill.
The doors of the great palace flew open in her fire, the servants darted out of her way as she trudged mud up the carpet in her haste, and Juliet looked upon the Jarl of Whiterun hold with a sense of pride as she revealed that the task was done.
"So it's really dead then..." Jarl Balgruuf sighed in relief "Forgive me, I barely thought it possible!" He leaned forward in his chair, resting his fuzzy chin on his muscular hands balancing on the throne's arms, "Is that it then, is there anymore to your tale?"
"No, that's about all there is to tell" Juliet said quickly, her hands folded behind the small of her back "we went out and killed a dragon"
The Jarl smiled, "Did you hear that call on your way back to Whiterun?" His eyes cautiously scanned her own, "The Greybeards..."
Before Juliet could open her mouth, a storm of guards entered Dragonsreach, out of habit, her hand rested upon the dragonbone dagger at her waist as they approached her and the Jarl, "There's more, sir!" One of the guard's rough voices piped up.
Juliet scowled, recognizing it as one of the troops whom aided in the defeat of the dragon "Mirmurmir" The dark voice corrected her.
"She's the Dragonborn!" The guard said, his hands on his hips and the other guards nodding in agreement, "You should have seen it sir, she sucked the soul right out of that dragon!"
"Enough! You men should return to your duties" Irileth approached from the rear of the cluster of men, "Sorry, sir, the men are a little excited." She threw an annoyed glance Juliet's way, and the young wood elf did her best impression of shock.
"Understandable, they did just bring down a dragon!" The Jarl chuckled, "I think they deserve the rest of the day off, but then we'd be understaffed." He then turned to the Dragonborn, his eyes alight with a dangerous curiosity, she looked back with an aloof expression, "So, Dragonborn, it seems the city owes you its walls."
She didn't say anything, shock invading her face, the Jarl smirked.
"I announce you as Thane of my hold, the highest honor I can bestow, I'll make sure the guards know of your status and I'll Avenicci know that you may purchase property."
Juliet stumbled, her mind in a blur, "I don't know what to say"
He smiled at her, "I have assigned Lydia to be your housecarl, and you don't need to say anything. Welcome to Whiterun"
She nodded, "It has been an honor, my Jarl."
Proventus Avenicci stood by the Jarl on his right, he was a scrawny Imperial, although his features suited one more of a Breton background, his shiny bald head leaned over the Jarl's throne and whispered something before stepping forward, his moustache twitching as he spoke, "Breezehome is the house available right now, my Thane, shall we arrange the details?"
Juliet stood before the council of Whiterun, feeling claustrophobic and nervous, she could kill anything, blood staining her fingers was a comfort but when all the eyes in the room watched her every movement she began to sweat, "Yes I suppose..."
"Excellent!" He clapped his hands together, his mouth stretching into a strange smile, Juliet decided quickly that she did not like him; she imagined his sticky blood on her dagger and smiled back. "The cost of the house is five thousand septims; this of course does not include furnishings, to make the house liveable you should invest another eighteen hundred septims."
She didn't think before holding out her purse and counting out the seven thousand eight hundred septims required for the house, although it was against her better judgement.
"Yes... living amongst society, they'll judge you, perhaps even see you" The voice whispered, "I see you, and I can understand why you don't want others to."
Go away... She told the intruder, she knew it was part of her imagination, but when it spoke chills ran down her spine.
"Yes this should suffice" Proventus smiled, "I do hope you enjoy your new life in Whiterun!"
She nodded back at him and took the key dangling from his grasp, he quickly gave her directions and allowed her to leave the palace.
She walked down Dragonsreach hall, passing the pleasant smells of the feasting tables, ignoring the noble's conversations of the new member of their ranks.
Juliet approached the door but was then approached by a young maiden in heavy steel armour, her eyes were small and her lips full, dark brown hair falling down to her shoulders neatly with a braid hanging by each ear. "Hello, you must be Juliet?"
Juliet grumbled internally, not showing her discontent, "Yes, and you are?"
"I am Lydia, your new housecarl" She smiled, "I was a captain of the guards here in Whiterun, been working my blade since I was young, I hope I am of use to you, it will be an honor to serve you"
Juliet looked over at the girl, "I don't suppose you could just return to your regular duties then?"
Lydia smiled, "Housecarls are the sword and shield to their thanes, I will serve you and everything you own with my life."
Juliet bit her lip, "I suppose we best get settled into Breezehome then, lead the way."
So I hope you guys are following the gist of the story in this first chapter, hoping the end wasn't too boring for you.
Due to the wonderful patterns of life, I won't be making huge promises about updating, my target is at least one chapter per week. Please drop a review on what you thought of it :)